Matthew 19: 16 – 24
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honour your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.” 20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Can a rich person be saved? That is in effect the question that is being considered in this story from Matthew’s Gospel. Although we are not told at the beginning of this story that the young man is rich, Jesus and the young man himself knew that he was rich. And it’s in that context that the young man asks his question about being saved in verse 16. Unfortunately, however, the young man puts his question in the wrong terms because he doesn’t really understand what salvation is. He understands the fruit of salvation (eternal life) be he doesn’t understand how this comes about. But his lack of understanding is not a consequence of him being rich. It’s a problem shared by lots of people.
Salvation is about being reconciled with God. Before we are saved we are God’s enemies, rebellious, cut off from Him and driven by self-interest. But when we are saved we make peace with God and we enter into a love relationship with Him eternally. And the Good News is that this is entirely free. There is no price for us to pay because Jesus has already paid the price for us by dying on the cross. All we do is say yes when Jesus calls us. Sadly the rich young man didn’t understand this; he thought he had to earn it by doing good deeds. Remember, this misunderstanding is not unique to rich people.
However, the real problem the rich young man had in being saved was not his idea that salvation is earned. The real problem was his riches and Jesus knew that. That’s why He cuts to the chase in verse 21 by telling him to sell his possessions and give to the poor. In effect Jesus was testing the young man to see where his heart was. Sadly the rich young man failed the test and turned his back on Jesus (went away) both physically and spiritually.
The reason why the young man turned his back on Jesus was because his riches (his wealth and possessions) were more important to him than salvation, more important to him than knowing Jesus. Part of the experience of being saved is the call to follow Jesus and in order to do this we need to get rid of excess baggage. When we are saved we begin a journey; a journey that is determined by Jesus and one that is unique to each one of us. The call to follow Jesus is a call to travel light and cling to Him. When Jesus calls us we need to give Him our all; nothing must get in the way. In the case of the rich young man it was his possessions that got in the way. But possessions are not the only things that can get in the way of someone being saved. Things such as our plans, our self-interest, our selfishness, our values, our beliefs, our status, our jobs, our commitments and even our poverty can get in the way of following Jesus. Just like the rich young man we are all called to set aside whatever is important to us, make the Jesus our first love and follow Him.
So, I ask again, can a rich person be saved? Of course they can. For, as Jesus says, it might seem impossible to man that a camel can pass through the eye of a needle “but with God all things are possible”. Although a rich person can be saved, the story of this rich young man is included in Mathews Gospel to emphasise just how big a barrier riches can be when it comes to being saved. Riches bring power and control over our lives. The richer we are the less we need others, including God. We can achieve a lot on our own with lots of money. Riches make us self-reliant and self-fulfilled. Why would we throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus when we have all we need? Why would we ask Jesus for anything when we are rich enough to provide for ourselves? A poor person is far more likely to cry out to Jesus in their need than a rich person. There is nothing virtuous about the kind of poverty that comes from a lack of money or possessions. But there is virtue in recognising ourselves as being poor in terms of anything we can boast about. In order to be saved we need to recognise our poverty with regard to being able to do anything good and pleasing to God by ourselves. Being rich in possessions can make it more difficult to recognise this kind of poverty in ourselves. That’s why Jesus said that it is hard (but not impossible) for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. So remember, hold on to your possessions lightly but cling on to Jesus for dear life.